By Gil Pound and Al Weston

B obcat basketball star Shanteona Keys (’15) and softball standout Whitney (Okvist) Pape (’14) were inducted into the Georgia College & State University Athletics Hall of Fame Friday, Oct. 17.

They became the 43rd and 44th inductees into the Hall of Fame, which was established in 2006 to recognize those individuals who showcased excellence as a student-athlete, coach/administrator, or through outstanding service to the Bobcat Athletics program.

Keys and Pape both fit the bill in making up the 2025 Hall of Fame class.

“Success follows them throughout their lives,” said Wendell Staton, director of Athletics at Georgia College. “They are fantastic ambassadors for our university and represent the holistic experience that we provide at GCSU.”

Shanteona Keys

Keys, a dynamic guard for the Bobcats from 2011-2015, was a Hall of Fame shoo-in. She finished her career as the all-time leading scorer for GCSU women’s basketball with 1,822 points. That total also placed her 10th overall in the Peach Belt Conference.

She averaged 16.6 points, 5 rebounds and 33.3 minutes per game in 110 career contests. She also tallied 549 total rebounds.

Keys’ list of accolades is long. The second women’s basketball player to be inducted into the Bobcat Hall of Fame, she is one of just six players in the Peach Belt to make the all-conference team four times, She was named the league’s Freshman of the Year in 2011-2012, was twice named to the College Sports Communicators’ Academic All-America® team and was a GCSU valedictorian in 2015, with a 4.0 grade point average.

A mass communication graduate from Roswell, Georgia, Keys also earned the PBC Elite 15 Award for women’s basketball twice and was named the league’s NCAA Woman of the Year nominee, as well as the Peach Belt Women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year, in 2014-2015.

Finally, Keys was named to the WBCA Allstate Good Works Team, was a finalist for the Arthur Ashe Leadership Award in 2014-2015 and was the Peach Belt’s representative on the NCAA Division II national Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for four years, in addition to being the first Division II scholar-athlete named to the prestigious Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, which she has continued to serve on for the last eight years.

“Being inducted into the Hall of Fame feels like coming full circle and closing the chapter of what was, for me, a lot of hard work and a lot of great times,” Keys said. “It’s kind of the last accolade for my collegiate basketball career.”

Keys is the head girls basketball coach and a teacher at Cambridge High School in Milton, Georgia. She’s also putting her mass comm degree to work as color commentator for Kennesaw State University women’s basketball.

Whitney (Okvist) Pape

A recordholder in her own right, Pape patrolled the outfield for the Bobcats from 2011-2014. She finished her career with 163 stolen bases, which tops the all-time list at both GCSU and the Peach Belt, and ranks No. 11 in NCAA Division II history. Her 53 stolen bases in 2012 were third best in NCAA Division II that season.

The Kennesaw, Georgia, native recorded a .377 batting average in 195 career games. She holds the No. 1 spot in Bobcat history in hits (244) and runs scored (174) and second in at-bats (648).

Pape was named to the All-Peach Belt team four times and helped the Bobcats advance to the NCAA Division II Southeast Regionals in 2013.

Pape, who is the sixth Bobcat softball player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, was named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association’s all-region team three times and the NFCA All-America team in 2012 and 2014.

An early childhood education graduate, Pape was also named to the NFCA All-Academic team in 2014.

“Making it into the Hall of Fame is definitely an honor,” said Pape. “I had such an amazing time at Georgia College. I enjoyed every single year I was there. I give a lot of praise to my team for helping me achieve this amazing honor.”

Pape is a special education transition teacher for the Cobb County School District.

Header Images: All HOF event photos by Julia Jensen. Shanteona Keys and Whitney Okvist Pape celebrated their induction into the Athletics Hall of Fame with family, friends, former teammates, coaches and current Bobcat players, plus Georgia College supporters and administrators. GCSU President Cathy Cox welcomed honorees and guests, while Athletics Director Wendell Staton officially inducted both Keys and Okvist Pape into the Hall of Fame.